Thierry Henry Questions Arsene Wenger over Alexis Sanchez Hamstring Injury

Former Arsenal striker Thierry Henry has become the latest figure to criticise Arsene Wenger's decision to play Alexis Sanchez in Sunday's 1-1 draw against Norwich City, which saw the player suffer a hamstring injury.

The Gunners chief, who confessed on Friday that Sanchez was struggling, was made to regret his decision to risk him after Sanchez limped off.

When asked on Sky Sports' Super Sunday if the Chilean was being overplayed, Henry replied (h/t Daily Mail's John Downes):

"

Obviously if you ask Alexis Sanchez if he's OK he's going to say 'yes'. If not, if the guy says 'no', then he might as well leave the club, you're there to play.

[...] But I think you almost don't have to ask him anything if you want to rest him. I personally wouldn't have liked that when I was a player but then you take it on the chin and you see the bigger picture because you want to be out there and play for the whole season.

[...] I'm not a coach, I don't know how it is with all the pressure of players - I know I was a pain in the neck when you take me out in the game - but I thought at the time, the game was won against Dinamo Zagreb; he scored, he had a good game, he didn't get injured, 20 minutes to go, take him out.

"

Arsenal had the chance to draw level on points with Manchester City at the Premier League summit with a win at Carrow Road, but Sunday's draw leaves them two points shy of the leaders.

It's a difficult balance for Wenger to juggle between fielding an XI he feels is capable of winning but still managing to keep that squad as fit as possible for the season to come.

The Gunners' injury list is once again among the worst in the Premier League, with Laurent Koscielny also coming off against Norwich to add to the club's fitness woes following a slow summer of transfer business.

The furore surrounding Wenger may be all the greater had he chosen to rest Sanchez only for Arsenal to lose to the Canaries, however, and the Mirror's Lars Sivertsen questioned the effect hindsight has had on the call:

Losing arguably their best attacker is a disconcerting blow for the north Londoners to suffer at present, given Theo Walcott and Danny Welbeck are already on the sidelines through injury.

It's no shock to see the club's worst injury path of the campaign to date has influenced Arsenal's average points haul for the worse, according to Match of the Day:

Wenger's side are now three games without a win in Premier League competition, but Arsenal are at risk of seeing that record worsen further unless they're able to call upon their strongest lineup soon.

If the manager was to take every niggle and injury concern into account, fielding a completely fit XI could well reduce the team's overall quality—another sacrifice fans would assuredly be unwilling to accept.

It's therefore little surprise that the fans wish to see Arsenal making more moves in the transfer market in an effort to beef up their ranks, having failed to sign a single senior outfield player last summer.

The January window may not come soon enough for Wenger, but the Emirates chief will have to survive on his current crop for the time being, and Henry now sits among those scrutinising the tactician's logic.